Friend or Foe
by IdiAmeanDada
Summary: So, do I really need to summarize this two chapter one-shot? I mean think about it, its Godzilla and Pacific Rim. 'nuff said. Story told from Raleigh's perspective.
1. Chapter 1

-1-

The Kaiju war was over, we won, and the world took a collective sigh of relief as we took a step back from the coming apocalypse. With the closure of the Breach and cessation of Kaiju attacks, it seemed like all the tension in the world was released. Particularly in the cities that lined the Pacific Ocean, celebrations spontaneously erupted in the streets. My partner and I were hailed as heroes across the world.

All we wanted to do was fade into history, become a footnote. I had had enough of the spotlight in the years before the death of my brother. It's amazing when I look back just how arrogant I was. But it was not to be. For the next year, we were whisked from one city to the next, celebrities on a worldwide victory tour.

It culminated in Hong Kong on the first anniversary of sealing the Breach, where we attended the unveiling of the first of many memorials to the Jaegers and pilots that fought in the war. It was agreed upon by the countries of the United Nations that this would be the largest of all of them since this was where we launched our last stand. It was a large building, with a façade modeled after the 'Shatterdome' that had protected the area and was the staging ground for our assault. Standing guard outside each of the two hanger style doors were ten foot tall statues of the last four Jaegers; Cherno Alpha, Crimson Typhoon, Stryker Eureka, and Gipsy Danger.

While the whole thing was rather overwhelming for those that had fought and survived, it was still a fitting tribute and a symbol that we had persevered in the face of an overwhelming adversary. All across the Rim, the celebrations lasted well into the night.

It all came crashing down the following day.

A Kaiju made land in the United States. The category five monster, dubbed "Lazarus", came ashore near San Diego. As a show of force, it didn't go for the city. It went straight to one of the most well known military bases in the world, Camp Pendleton. Despite the presence of over seventy-five thousand well equipped Marines with tanks, planes, and helicopters, they did not waste any time in nuking it. It took no less than ten tactical warheads to finally kill the thing. Rumor has it they were going to up the ante and drop an ICBM on it if the last one hadn't done the job. Needless to say, the entire base and about eighty to ninety percent of the infrastructure, equipment, and personnel were gone.

In one attack, the world's sense of security and superiority was destroyed.

The allied countries in the UN that had disbanded the Pan Pacific Defense Corps after the war scrambled to reactivate the organization. Unfortunately, there was a stark realization that was reached soon after: there were no active Jaegers. Stryker Eureka and Gipsy Danger were the last when they embarked on their heroic effort to seal the Breach, and while successful, both were destroyed in the attempt. Being the only survivors of that attack, Mako and I were the only intact pilot crew remaining in the world.

After a frantic search, it was later found that a secondary portal had been opened by the aliens when the ballistic missile submarine _USS Nebraska_ was lost with all hands approximately 350 miles from the site of the Breach. This one was named the 'Rift'. Within weeks, sensors were redeployed around it to monitor and detect the unique biosigns of the Kaiju as they emerged. It was discovered that this new portal, while no less dangerous for what it could produce, was much smaller. Some postulated that it was a backup for the Breach while others felt that it had been opened to accommodate additional attacks. Whatever the reason for its existence, it represented a grave threat.

Then something interesting happened. Six months after Lazarus, a Kaiju emerged from the Rift, another category five. It started towards Sydney, but then disappeared, seemingly for no reason. Since it appeared this portal was not able to handle the large numbers the previous one did, it was postulated that the aliens were going to bring several through over a period of weeks and then launch a massive attack. When the second and third Kaiju also disappeared at four months intervals, it only seemed to confirm that hypothesis.

That is, until the corpse of what we think was the third Kaiju washed up in Japan.

Everyone scrambled to figure out what had happened to it. Whatever the reason, it was plainly obvious the beast died a violent death. There were long, raking claw and bite marks that could only have been inflicted by another Kaiju. Some theorized that there was another portal, from another species of aliens that were antagonistic to the first ones, and they had sent a Kaiju against their enemies instead of us. Still others had postulated that it was something natural. That the Earth itself had finally decided that enough was enough.

Whatever the reason, it gave us some breathing room. See, someone remembered that there was one complete Jaeger left, an old Mark I that had been decommissioned years earlier. It was quickly brought back into service with Mako and I as the pilots.

It wasn't long before whatever was taking down the Kaiju, missed one.

XXX

_Initiating launch operations  
Coyote Tango  
Kaiju Warning, Category Five  
Target: Tokyo, Japan_

XXX

"Raleigh, wake up!"

My co-pilot Mako Mori's enthusiasm didn't used to get the best of her. Originally forbidden from piloting Jaegers by her guardian, she persevered and eventually convinced him. The experience changed her, for the better I think. Still a perfectionist, she helps to balance me out when it comes to my propensity to freelance with the Jaeger.

Maybe that's why I love her.

I rolled out of the chair I had been sleeping in a looked around. The pilot's lounge was a small room off the main dining hall. In its heyday, it would have been packed with as many as ten crews, the eight primaries and two backups. Now it was just Mako and me. I liked going there because it reminded me of old times, good and bad. The ghosts of times past.

"What do they make of this one?" I asked as I followed Mako out the door.

She didn't stop as she replied. "So far, all they know is that it's a cat five."

Category five, the largest of the Kaiju detected to date. This one would be the fifth of this size unleashed on our world. When Mako and I piloted Gipsy Danger to the Breach to seal it, we encountered the first one that came to be known as Slattern. That beast survived a point blank nuclear blast and nearly finished us off afterwards. Then there was Lazarus, who came from the Rift and was the first one to actually make landfall. It looked for the entire world like it was invincible. Then there were also the two that mysteriously disappeared, and the one that washed up.

We bypassed the Honk Kong Shatterdome's LOCCENT (Local Command Center) and went straight to the drivesuit room. Upon entering, the four assistants that were waiting began to prep us. Because intercepting the Kaiju as far from land as possible was paramount, they had seven minutes from the time we got to the room to have us fully ready to start the Drift, which is the neural connection the pilots make in order to control the Jaeger.

"Have they named this one yet, Fred?" I asked after a few minutes as one of them inserted the spinal interface into the back of my suit.

"Not yet, sir," he replied as the devices settled into its groove and began to connect. I felt a tickle running up my spine as it progressed. Involuntarily, I shuddered as it completed.

_"Hey, I can't make it easy on you," _announced a familiar voice over the intercom.

I smile to myself. Tendo Choi , the Chinese-Peruvian J-Tech Chief was our eyes and ears when we were piloting the Jaeger. Part of his duties was to classify the Kaiju, and name them sometimes. He was also one of my best friends. "Come on man, you know I'm dying with anticipation."

I heard a snort of amusement over the intercom. _"No great loss there, eh Mako?"_

Sneaking a glance over to my copilot, I saw her smile and roll her eyes. The techs had just finished with her and she had stepped to the side to go over some status updates on our Jaeger. "Sorry buddy, she doesn't speak imbecile!"

_"Ah-hem,"_ came another voice. _"Rangers, you have two minutes."_

A wry smile formed across my face. Marshall Hercules 'Herc' Hansen from Australia was formerly the copilot of Striker Eureka. It was arguably the best Jaeger ever built, although I still prefer my old girl, Gipsy Danger. He took over as Marshall of the Pan-Pacific Defense Corps after his son Chuck and the former Marshall, Stacker Pentecost, were both killed in Striker when they set off the nuclear bomb it was carrying in an attempt to kill two Kaiju that were defending the Breach.

"Yes sir! Right away sir! With all due haste, sir!" I quipped as I started to walk towards the Coyote Tango's Conn-Pod. She was one of the very first Jaegers built. During the Kaiju War, it was the only one that was not destroyed outright. It was a great honor for me and Mako to drive her, as it was also the mech Stacker Pentecost drove when he saved Mako from the Kaiju known as Onibaba. Later on, he adopted Mako and raised her as his daughter.

After that battle, Tango was retired because of a design flaw that made it inherently dangerous to pilot (as if using the things to fight giant monsters wasn't dangerous enough). Because of a lack of shielding for their nuclear reactors, many of the pilots died of radiation poisoning or cancer.

So why am I ok with piloting it? Because Mako oversaw the refit after they pulled her out of Oblivion Bay. After the incredible job she did with Gipsy Danger, it was a no brainer. In addition to shielding to protect us from the leaky reactor, Tango's right arm was upgraded with the same chain sword that Gipsy had, and the shoulder cannons were replaced. On the left side was a four pack of the WMB2x90 Anti-Kaiju Missiles that Striker Eureka carried as they were deemed more effective than the mortars she carried originally.

On the right was an experimental cannon that fired a 355mm slug. That's fourteen inches for you English measurement types. A weapon like it hasn't been produced in over eighty years, when similar and larger weapons were the main guns on battleships. The shell itself is as tall as I am, with another ten feet added for the case that held the charge. It was a single shot weapon and while we were in transit, it was rotated onto Tango's back.

These improvements alone upgraded Coyote Tango to the equivalent of a Mark III Jaeger. But that was just the start of it.

"Good morning, Raiden," I announce as I entered the Conn-Pod.

"_Good morning, Ranger Becket. Once again I must ask that you use my proper name, Raijin."_

The gravely, electronic sounding male voice was Tango's A.I., named Raijin, after the Japanese god of thunder. It was far and away the most advanced of any A.I. in any of the previous Jaegers. Developed by Mako, it was originally supposed to go into Gipsy, but time constraints would not allow it to be completed on time. She finished it anyway, and it's a damn good thing she did. Since we were forced to reactivate Tango, it was a no brainer that it would be used. Where the previous A.I. mostly just reported on what was going on, Raijin was much more interactive.

And I loved teasing it. "Come on, what would be the fun in that?" I quipped as I stepped into the foot controls. One of the technicians behind me activated the locking mechanism when I was finished.

"_For me, there is none."_

Oh yeah, it doesn't have much of a sense of humor. Mako seems to think it will develop one, eventually. Not sure when eventually will be, though.

"So, are you ready to go kick some Kaiju ass?"

"_I am not sure, the word "some" might infer that there are multiple Kaiju asses to kick. Since there is only one, it would be more appropriate to say 'a Kaiju ass'. Also, we must consider that it is unknown if this Kaiju has an ass to kick."_

I smiled underneath my helmet. "Yeah, Mako programmed you alright."

"_Thank you Ranger Becket, I will consider that a compliment."_

As the holographic monitors around me began to come alive, I turned to see Mako being attached to the left Pilot Control Rig. There were twin units in the Conn-Pod that translated our movements into the movement of the Jaeger. "Hi honey, we've been waiting!"

"What are you two talking about?" she asked with a smile. For a moment, I got lost in the dainty features of her face, which was framed by blue bangs in her short black hair.

"Oh nothing, just the semantics of the term 'kick some Kaiju ass'."

_"As usual, Ranger Becket demonstrates a need for remedial English classes."_

The intercom crackled with laughter. "_I thought that thing doesn't have a sense of humor!" _

_ "I fail to see what is so funny about this, Mr. Choi."_

At the same time I heard a groan from Tendo, a light snicker over the intercom told me that Mako had donned her helmet. Before I could respond, I felt a tap on mine. I turned my head to see the technician named Fred giving me a thumbs up. I glanced over again, and saw that the technicians had just finished connecting her as well. They beat a hasty retreat.

"I hate this part," Commented Mako. I tried to take her to an amusement park once, but she would not go on the roller coasters. Very odd for someone who drives a giant power suit that is eighty-five meters tall!

Marshal Hansen's booming voice came over the intercom. "_Engage drop_."

_"Engaging Conn-pod drop sequence in three…two…one."_

Suddenly, my stomach was in my throat as the Conn-pod dropped from the staging area, slipping down a set of rails to the Jaeger that was waiting for us below. It was one of my favorite parts of the sequence. The adrenalin rush from suddenly feeling like you were in free-fall was, for lack of a better word, awesome. With a lurch, we made contact with the body of Coyote Tango. A series of snaps, clangs, and bangs later, and we became the head of the most powerful fighting machine in the world.

"_We are going to be airlifting you guys to Tokyo," _reported Tendo._ "So prepare for neural handshake."_

"_Pilot to pilot connection engaging in three…two…one."_

When Raijin finished the countdown, I felt the familiar sucking sensation as my consciousness was pulled into the machine. I watched as black and white images of my memories played out before me. After a moment, new images of a young Japanese girl flashed through my mind. These were Mako's memories. This was all the result of the neural link that was required to control a Jaeger. It takes two to pilot one of these things because, with very few exceptions, a single person's brain did not have the capability to control the entire machine.

The world snapped back into focus when Mako and I completed the Drift. We were one with the machine now, linked in the most intimate of ways to over two hundred and eighty feet of pure power. In front of us, an image of our two brains overlapped each other, showing our status.

_"Two pilots engaged in neural bridge at one hundred percent synchronization."_

"Right hemisphere ready!" I announced after Raijin reported our status.

"Left hemisphere ready!" reported Mako immediately after.

Experimentally, we rolled our shoulders and raised our arms, completely in synch with each other. Coyote Tango followed suit. Shifting our hands, we took up a fighting position. As expected, Tango's arms followed. Finally, I balled up my right fist while Mako opened her left hand, palm facing right. Because of the Drift, our opposite hands mimicked what the other was doing. We smacked them together in a show of respect, the sound reverberating throughout the shatterdome when the mighty Jaeger did the same. Through the external speakers, we heard a bunch of whooping and hollering at the display, which caused both of us to smile.

"Coyote Tango ready for deployment," announced Mako.

"_Acknowledged_," replied Tendo.

I muted the comm and looked over to Mako with a sly smile. "She's a little sluggish in the right pinky," I teased. She had been overseeing the refit for almost six months. We suited up before to test, but never on a hot deployment. Before she could reply, Raijin came to her defense.

_"Motor controls are within normal parameters, Ranger Becket. Perhaps it is you that is a little sluggish?"_

"That's ok, it is not the only thing he is sluggish at," added Mako with a smile. Ouch, she was going to pay for that one later.

_ "I fail to see how…wait, was a veiled reference to his performance in…"_

"TIME TO MOVE OUT!" we both screamed in unison. Sometimes Raijin was too smart for his own good.

Above our Jaeger, the massive doors to the shatterdome parted as the huge crawler under us, similar in design to the ones that took the space shuttle and the Saturn V rockets to their launch pads, begins to roll us out of our bay and into the center of the launch area. After a few moments, we were directly underneath the doors. Gigantic cranes began to make the connections needed for the transport aircraft to get us to our destination. On the platforms outside sat four brand new transports. Designed in the latter days of the war, these machines used four huge gas turbine engines that could swivel from zero to ninety degrees. This allowed for more lifting power and greater speed.

"_So, you want the good news or the bad news?" asked Tendo over the intercom. _

I shook my head and rolled my eyes as I flipped the intercom switch back on. I hate this game. "Bad news first I guess."

"_It's going to take about six hours to get you there, but the Kaiju will be there in a little over five."_

Damn. Tokyo was just over four hours via commercial airliner. While six hours was way better that what we would get with the old helicopters we used to use, a Kaiju could do a lot of damage in an hour. I just hope those people had the sense to run before it got there.

"What's the good news, Tendo?" asked Mako.

_ "We came up with a name for it: 'Mimic'."_ He sounded so proud, must have been his idea.

"Why 'Mimic'?" I asked as the final linkages were connecting to Tango's frame.

_"It's better to show you," _is the reply from theJ-Tech Chief.

On the holographic displays in front of us, a grainy image appeared. Along with the seismic and displacement sensors used to track the Kaiju, there were a number of optical sensors as well. One of them apparently got a descent enough look at it. The creature was standing on top of four legs, looking a lot like Onibaba. It had a single, long tail tipped with a three pronged spearhead like Slattern. Its arms were long, exceptionally so, like Leatherback. At the end of each was what looked like four thumbs in an X shape. And its head… "It looks like…"

"…Knifehead," completes Mako, having felt my immediate apprehension through the Drift.

"_Warning! Neural bridge destabilizing, synchronization at eighty-two point one percent and falling."_

Despite Raijin's warning, I was locked in. Upon seeing the resemblance to the Kaiju that killed my brother Yancy, I involuntarily latched on to that memory, and found myself in a white drivesuit piloting Gipsy Danger. I remembered the searing pain that was transmitted to me through the link with the giant mech as its left arm was torn off by Knifehead. I heard my brother try to give me instructions as the monster tore into our Conn-pod. I felt his pain on top of my own and the sudden sense of loss as he was forcibly ripped out, along with the entire right side pilot control rig, and thrown into the sea. Just as I began experiencing his death all over again, I heard a voice.

_It's ok, Raleigh, I've got you!_

I blinked, and the whole world stopped. Glancing around at the frozen chaos, I saw a woman, a Japanese woman in a black drivesuit standing next to me. She smiled.

_It's a memory, let it go._

I ask her how it can be a memory, it's so real! She merely smiles at me, then reached up and touched my faceplate. Before my eyes, the cockpit began to change. I changed as well, my drivesuit going from white to black. It was all completely foreign to me.

Or was it?

_"Neural bridge stabilizing, synchronization rising to seventy-eight point nine percent."_

As I looked around, Raijin and Mako's voices helped me to realize where I was: in Coyote Tango's Conn-Pod, not Gipsy Danger's. That was not Knifehead, that was Mimic, a bastardized hodgepodge of Kaiju parts. It looked like they had just slapped it together from the remains of the other monsters that the Jaegers had killed over the years.

I glanced over to Mako, who was smiling at me from the other side of the pod. "Thanks."

"Just don't let it happen again."

_"Dude, you've got to be more careful, you almost destroyed one of the transports!"_

"Sorry Tendo, looks like that rabbit got away from me." I glanced up at the holographic images in front of me, one of them showing our overlapping brains. "Raijin, what is the status of the Drift?"

_"Synchronization at ninety seven point one percent and climbing. Full synch is expected in twenty two seconds"_

I smiled despite what had happened. Random Access Brain Impulse Triggers (R.A.B.I.T.) were an occurrence where one of the pilots latched on to a memory. Focusing on a single memory is discouraged while piloting a Jaeger. That's because the emotions from the memory typically translate into actions for the Jaeger depending on how strong the memory is and the hemisphere the pilot is calibrated to. As a result pilots were advised never to 'chase the rabbit'. Apparently when I did, Tango almost jerked one of the transports off the landing pad above us.

_"Rangers, prepare for liftoff,"_ calls out Marshall Hansen. _"And no more funny business! We got work to do! I want you will drive that thing back into the bay and kill it_."


	2. Chapter 2

-2-

Like the song says, '_It's the end of the world and we know it._' So what do you do while you wait? What do you talk about? I'll tell you what you talk about, anything but what's about to happen.

"I'm telling you, the 2015 Kansas City Chiefs are the best team of the twenty-first century!"

Over the intercom, I could hear Tendo scoff at what I said. _"I have one phrase for you; undefeated regular season!"_

He was of course referring to the 2007 New England Patriots, whose only loss for that season was in the Superbowl. Eight years later, the Kansas City Chiefs nearly replicated that feat, but lost their final two games on account that they were saving their major players for the playoffs. They went on to win Superbowl Forty-Nine.

One of the side effects of the very first Kaiju attack was that the NFL's season was completely cancelled. This was because forty five of the Oakland Raiders' players were killed in the onslaught of the beast that became known as 'Trespasser'. Additionally, the San Francisco 49ers' stadium was completely demolished. The following year, the Raiders were reconstructed with a draft of NFL players that each of the remaining teams made available. That season went on despite the Kaiju attacks on Manila and Cabo San Lucas. It was felt that in spite of these attacks, we needed to keep things in a semblance of normalcy.

Both teams were moved inland, the Raiders going to Las Vegas while the 49ers went to Oklahoma City. They kept their names as the moves were considered temporary until their stadiums were rebuilt. Pretty stupid, considering what we found out later. But the league was determined, and in 2018, both teams moved back into state of the art stadiums. It wasn't until Clawhook's attack on San Diego the following year that destroyed yet another NFL stadium did they get the picture. After that, all of the west coast teams were moved inland, some of them having to share stadiums for the season until a better arrangement could be made.

"But that's just it," I retorted. "They didn't win in the end, so that makes them just a footnote."

When the expected retort from Tendo failed to materialize, I glanced over to Mako. She merely shrugged. There was no need to verbalize any worry or doubt, we knew what the other was thinking as soon as they did through the Drift. After a few more minutes of silence from the J-Tech Chief, we both came to the same conclusion, something was wrong. We were still flying over the Pacific Ocean, skirting along the edge of the Japan, approaching the main island. Mimic would enter Tokyo Bay in ten minutes. We would be about forty minutes behind that. It was almost past the point where any changes could be initiated.

"_Um, I've picked up something weird,"_ announced Tendo finally.

"_Define 'weird',"_ replied Marshal Hansen, echoing mine and Mako's thoughts exactly.

Tendo paused, as if he were gathering his thoughts. _"The sensor net has picked up what appears to be an anomaly, different from Mimic." _We could hear shuffling of papers as he tried to make sense of what he was seeing. _"There appears to be some sort of heat signature following the Kaiju."_

Through the Drift, I can feel Mako tense up a little. "What kind of heat signature?"

"_Well, here's the thing, the sensors are picking something big up. If I went by just the displacement reading, I would say that it's another Kaiju, category three."_ More paper shuffling. _"But the odd thing is that it's letting off a huge amount of heat!"_

Because of their unique biology, Kaiju left little or no heat signature, making them difficult to track after they left the Breach. Mako and I came to the same conclusion that Tendo was working up to, we were about to see whatever had killed the last Kaiju, and possibly the two before it. "Do you think it's Monster X?" That was the designation we gave whatever it was that was doing our job for us.

"_That's the only thing that makes any sense. Aside from the displacement, everything else is different from what we would expect. It's coming in very hot. The heat signature is massive, and there is a huge radiation spike," _replied Tendo._ "Whatever it is, it's about fifteen minutes or so behind our boy."_

I'm still not sure where it came from, but a note of worry entered the Drift. Cancer caused to radiation was what had killed one of Coyote Tango's previous pilots, and was well on its way to killing Stacker Pentecost before he died in the attack that sealed the Breach. Mako had technicians add additional shielding around the reactor that powers the Jaeger to prevent that from happening to us, but she had not shielded the Conn-Pod. It was not deemed necessary.

We all lapsed into silence after that. It wasn't until Mimic surfaced in the middle of Tokyo Bay that we let out any noise, and that was only a small gasp from Mako. This thing was ugly grey, with overlapping blue bioluminescent lines running down its long arms which met on its chest, just below the neck. When it bellowed to announce its presence, we could see a bluish glow emanating from its mouth, which was fairly typical of the Kaiju we knew. As the two drones that were relaying the pictures circled overhead, the beast was immediately met with gunfire from two destroyers that were in the east side of the bay waiting for it. It was a valiant effort, but from past experience, the small guns on warships only seemed to piss Kaiju off.

As it directed its attention towards the two warships, it began to rain missiles around the beast, probably from M270 MLRS units stationed somewhere inland. Much to our surprise, Mimic stopped stalking the warships and began to head west, away from where the missiles were coming from. As it approached Hanada airport, we saw from another vantage point that there were at least thirty or more M1A4 Abrams tanks lined up along the airport's runway that jutted out into the bay. It seemed like a good strategy, everywhere Mimic tried to go, it was going to be met with some kind attack. The message was simple; GO AWAY!

Unfortunately, nothing has changed much since the first Kaiju attacks began back in 2013. Despite quite a few weapons advances since then, conventional weaponry still did not make much of a dent in a Kaiju. There was no difference here. As it approached the line of tanks, they opened up on it with a withering barrage of canon shells. All that it really accomplished was that they got noticed. Mimic closed the distance between it and the runway in a few seconds, then commenced to swiping at the tanks, scattering them like a small child kicking their building blocks. The tank crews bravely stood their ground, but in the end they were doomed.

From behind, the two destroyers approached as they continued to fire at the beast, with about the same effect they had earlier. Mimic picked up several of tanks and hurled them at the ships, causing severe damage of one of them. As they both veered out of the way, one launched multiple rockets. Each one found their mark, but Mimic merely shrugged them off and turned towards the city, ignoring the two pests completely. In less than five minutes, it had decimated the bay's defending force, leaving it unhindered to march on the city.

For the next ten minutes, the drones circled the Kaiju as it put down a path of destruction while it approached Tokyo's city center. The damage was horrendous as huge, eighty story skyscrapers fell to Mimic. If it weren't for the fact we needed to see the lay of the land to plan out our battle strategy, I would have turned it off.

After a few moments, one of the drones circling the area broke off and headed back to the bay. I watched this with interest, if only to not have to watch people die as a city was destroyed. As it came over the water in a slow arc, the camera focused on something out in the middle of the bay, quickly moving towards the same area where Mimic had made landfall. There was a bulge in the water where it was traveling, with something like a fin protruding above the surface from time to time, reminding me of a shark.

As the bay got shallower, the creature finally came out of the water. I am not sure exactly what I was expecting to see here. I assumed it would be pretty much the same as what we have seen before. Each one of the Kaiju that came before had many eyes dotting seemingly random parts of their faces. The heads would almost always have some sort of protuberance, whether it is blade-like, or horns, or….. some things are just too hard to describe. The majority also had multiple arms, a huge set of primary arms that almost looked like two stacked on top of each other, and a smaller, secondary set.

This thing was completely different from that. After finally getting a good look at the beast, I couldn't help but think of how plain it looked. Its head was almost dog like, with a single pair of forward facing yellow eyes sitting above a snout we could see was full of dagger like teeth. Small holes were on each side of the head, in basically the same place you would expect to see ears. Its head sat upon a wide neck that interfaced with even wider shoulders, with arms that were tipped with four fingered claws. Its massive chest gave way to an even more massive abdomen with huge legs underneath. There was a long tail that whipped at the water behind it, clearly in agitation.

All in all, it actually looked, for lack of a better word, terrestrial.

The most unique features of the animal were its back and its skin, which was charcoal grey and looked cracked like a volcanic landscape. Starting at the neck, three rows of dorsal spines ran the length of its body to the tip of the tail. At the shoulders, the spines got bigger before tapering back off. The middle row had huge plates in a shape that reminded me of a maple leaf, and was larger than the two outer ones.

As it stepped up onto the ruined Hanada airport runway, the creature let out a roar the likes I have never heard before. In later years, it was featured in comic books fighting other Kaiju from the breach, and they used 'Skree-Ronk' to describe the sound. That's as good as any, I guess. When you read it, it just doesn't have the same effect as hearing it, though. To me, it sounded like a cross between bass musical instrument and someone scratching on a chalkboard, all at the same time.

Whatever the creature's intent was when it roared, it did one thing for sure; it got Mimic's attention. The Kaiju immediately turned and bellowed in response, then began to make its way towards the new arrival. It took a few minutes, but the pair finally made eye contact as the second made landfall in the industrial area. Mimic stood to its full height, which was easily a head taller than the monster opposite it. I guess it was a move to try to intimidate the grey monster, but it didn't work. It roared in acceptance of the challenge, and continued to march towards the Kaiju.

Suddenly, Mimic lowered its head and rushed at its foe at full speed. When they met, that same knife head, which had severed Gipsy Danger's arm and cut into her chest armor like butter, bounced off the left side of the grey monster's chest. It seemed to roll with the blow as Mimic's head slid past. Before the Kaiju could get away, the smaller monster threw its left arm around the neck of the Kaiju and proceeded to hammer on its back with its right. I winced as I could see the power in the blows.

Amazingly, as Mimic tried to get out of its iron grip, the smaller beast then reached under the Kaiju's neck with its right hand. With a mighty heave, the four legged abomination was airborne for a moment before it smashed into a building, causing it to collapse on top. The grey monster stomped on the ground and roared again.

"_What the hell is that thing?"_ asked Tendo over the comm.

I shook my head. Through the drift I could feel Mako thinking the same thing. "I hope it's on our side." I glanced at the screen to see that Mimic was in the process of extricating itself from the rubble as the grey monster advanced on it. "Raijin, time to deployment?"

"_Deployment in nine minutes, seventeen seconds"_

"Good, make sure the Trainwreck is ready!" That was the nickname I gave to the cannon that was strapped to Tango's back. That big rack of missiles was nice and all, but I'll take a big gun over that any day.

"_Trainwreck is armed, ready for deployment."_

"There's no such thing as too ready in a fight," I quipped as I smirked at Mako.

"A wise man once said that well laid plans do not survive contact with the enemy," replied my copilot. As I had teased her a little about overthinking her fights, she was returning the favor. We were so in synch, I loved it.

Chuckling to myself, I looked back up to the screens displaying the fight that was already in progress. Mimic was up and out of the debris and was circling the smaller monster, which was doing the same. Having found out the hard way that a frontal on attack was not going to work, it seemed that the Kaiju was switching tactics, and I could see that the other was matching it. The two could well have been playing chess.

Lightning fast, the larger beast threw out its arm and spread its four digits. A tentacle lanced out and snagged the other creature's left arm and wrapped around it. It was followed up with the same attack from the other arm, which wrapped around the smaller monster's leg. With all its might, Mimic jerked, and the grey monster roared as it fell to the ground in a heap. Wasting no time, the larger Kaiju rushed forward as it retracted the tentacles and began pounding on its opponent.

As it rained blows down on the grey monster, there was a sudden flash of light, and both screens went blank.

"Tendo, what happened!" I yelled out, but there was only silence. "Tendo? Shatterdome, come in!" Still no answer.

"Raijin, what happened?" asked Mako.

"_Unknown. Sensor reading from the area indicated a spike in Gamma radiation just before we lost communications and telemetry."_

"Has that affected our systems?"

"_Negative, Ranger Mori." _

"_Tango, Transport One, do you read?"_ It was the pilot from the lead transport. While we were connected, there was a hard line connecting us in case there was a loss of communication.

"Transport one, we read you, what is your status?" I replied.

"_We've lost contact with the shatterdome. We believe its background radiation from whatever just happened down there."_

"Do you think it will clear up?"

"_Unknown, but likely. We are less than four minutes from the drop, what do you want to do?"_ is the reply.

I glanced over to Mako and instantly knew what she wanted to do. I nodded. "Transport one, we are still go for drop."

"_Roger that Tango, Transport One out."_

I glanced up to the holographic screens and saw that we were making our turn into the bay. Just ahead, smoke was rising from the battle site, although I could not see Mimic or the other creature. The Kaiju had the upper hand when we lost contact. The smaller creature may have been tough, but I was not sure how it could survive that onslaught.

If I had thought Mimic had won, then I would have been wrong. Unbelievably, the grey monster emerged from the smoke and ruin of the docks area and began to wade out into the bay. I'm not sure if it even knew we were there at that point. The only thing I did know was that it was acting pretty casual, definitely not as if it were being pursued or anything. "Any sign of Mimic?"

"_Negative, Ranger Becket."_

"What's the status of Tango?" I barked out.

"_All systems nominal, Jaeger ready for combat."_

"Let's do this!" I yelled out. "Start the countdown!"

"_Disengaging from transports in five… four… three… two… one."_

With a mighty splash, the Jaeger touched down in the bay about half a klick from the grey monster. We turned toward it, but before we could do anything, the comm started sputtering with static.

"… _Tango, … engage second Kaiju, repeat, … … secon … … ju."_ It was Marshal Hansen's voice, but I could barely tell over the static.

"Say again, Marshal! You're breaking up!" My query was met with only static. I shrugged and looked at Mako. Silently, we agreed to do what we had come here for; Fight. In the console to my left, I hit a button. Outside, a loud foghorn blasted away any silence in the area. The grey monster ceased its march out to sea and glanced back at us. In a move that paid homage to Cherno Alpha and the Kaidonovskys, Mako and I pounded Coyote Tango's fists together to challenge the beast. It took a long, sideways look at us.

Then turned and continued its march back out to sea.

"What the….?" I glanced over to Mako who only shrugged. "Raijin! Arm the Trainwreck!"

Mako and I started to chase after the grey monster, trying to close the gap a little before we fired. As we did, the cannon swiveled up and onto the Jaeger's shoulder. When it was ready, I stepped forward with my right foot and bent my knee to lower our center of gravity. At the same time, Mako braced our left leg as we leaned into it. "Fire Trainwreck!"

"_Firing."_

A huge jolt shook the entire Jaeger, jerking us back in the pilot control rigs. As we steadied ourselves, we looked and saw that we had scored a direct hit. The grey monster was down. Time to finish it off. "Launch the four-pack!"

_"AKM system engaging."_

We stood up to our full height, causing the Jaeger to do the same. The doors covering the missiles in the pack on our left shoulder blew off as the four missiles screamed out of the launcher. They were programmed for a top down attack, so they immediately screamed high into the air. When they were straight over their target, they dove down and struck. The explosions were impressive. Nothing was moving.

"Raijin, that is how we kick Kaiju butt," I quipped. I immediately regretted it.

_"Ranger Becket, I am detecting movement."_

The monster stood back up and turned to us. Even through the smoke, I could see in its eyes that we had its attention now. Unbelievably, it was completely unscathed. It took a few steps towards us then roared so loud, the sound dampeners in the conn-pod had trouble filtering it.

The grey monster was severely pissed off now.

As we stood for a moment, sizing each other up, I noted that it was about fifteen meters taller than Coyote Tango. No matter, Mako and I have fought and killed larger monsters. "Chain Sword!" I ordered.

"_Chain Sword activated."_

From Tango's right forearm, a long chain extended about twenty meters. When it reached its maximum length, it then jerked back slightly, causing all the links to line up into a long blade. This weapon was first introduced to me when the Kaiju Otachi was flying with Gipsy Danger in her claws, carrying Mako and I up into the stratosphere. It was new back them. When the thing sliced that flying piece of crap in half, I was in love.

As Mako and I raised the sword and assumed a fighting stance, the grey monster simply snorted at us. While we contemplated the meaning of that, it reared back, opened its mouth, and shot what could only be described as blue fire at us. Later on, we were able to get a recording of the event from one of the transports. Because it was facing us, we missed the fact that its spines began glowing immediately before and while it shot that shit at us. Such information would have been useful if we had any hope of dodging.

When it hit us, it immediately melted any metal it came in contact with. Because we were linked to the Jaeger, both of us experienced extreme pain in the right part of our chest. It worked its way towards the shoulder where it proceeded to blow off the entire right arm. (While we're at this, can anyone PLEASE tell me why they always rip off the arm on MY side when we get into fights?) The searing pain caused me to almost black out. As I gritted my teeth in an attempt to stay focused, I glanced over at Mako, who was trying to keep the Jaeger upright as I struggled through it.

Together we took two steps back in order to regain the Jaeger's balance. "Damage report!" I yelled out.

"_Right arm and twenty four percent of the connected shoulder have been severed. Neural synchronization is down to eighty-nine percent and falling due to damage to the central data core. There is a breach in the isa-thor reactor, emergency shutdown is recommended."_

My instincts were to yell out no! As long as we had power, we were going to fight that thing. But when I glanced at the holographic display, I saw that the grey monster was not coming to finish us off, much to the surprise of both of us. It was heading back out to sea.

I sighed and shook my head. We might have been able to defend ourselves for a few more minutes, but we were in no position to pursue it. "Initiate shutdown, disengage neural link, disconnect us from the pilot control rig."

"_Acknowledged."_

My consciousness was sucked back as I felt the connection between myself, the Jaeger, and Mako disengage. A series of pops and whirs behind me let me know that the rig was disconnected. As I stepped out of the foot pads, Raijin gave me an update.

"_Neural link disengaged, pilot control rig disengaged, reactor shutdown in progress."_

Immediately, I took my helmet off, then looked over to Mako who had just finished removing her own. "Are you ok?"

"Yes," she replied sheepishly. "That was rather embarrassing."

"Tell me about it. Come on!" I grabbed her hand and led her over to the escape hatch. As we climbed out onto what was left of Tango's shoulder, we could see the grey monster still wading in the ocean off in the distance.

"Do you think it's a friend or an enemy?" asked Mako.

I shrugged my shoulders. "I don't think it is either." As we watched, it dove into the water and disappeared.

XXX

The following day, we learned that the Japanese government had had named the grey monster 'Gojira', and promptly passed a resolution naming it as the "National Kaiju". Because of the way it was pronounced, most of the English speaking counties mispronounced it as 'Godzilla'. That sounded a lot better than 'Gorilla – Whale', which was the translation of the two words the name came from.

Mako and I were derided for attacking it, saying that the reason it went after us was because we provoked it. Yeah, I can kind-of see where that came from. But despite its image as a national hero, we knew differently. That beast could care less about us. If it did, it would not have unleashed a nuclear pulse in the middle of Tokyo in order to disable Mimic that directly attributed to the deaths of over ten thousand people. To Mako and I, it was Hiroshima and Nagasaki all over again.

And they celebrated it.

In the next six months, three more Kaiju emerged from the Rift. Two of them were never seen again. The third made landfall in Bangkok Thailand. If there were a category six, this beast would have been it. It was huge! After rampaging through the city for an hour, Godzilla arrived. We have no clue how or why, but he seems to have an uncanny ability to home in on the Kaiju. It took the grey monster less than ten minutes to dispatch an opponent that was nearly half again larger than it. I'm not sure it even broke a sweat.

We were in the process of being dropped on site when the battle between the two monsters was finished, sporting a brand new Mark Five E Jaeger we dubbed Gipsy Stryker. Mako and I named it that because it looked a lot like a combination of the two older Jaegers. Godzilla stared us down, daring us to attack it. I'm not sure that in this new machine we couldn't take him. But we were also not in to pressing our luck, so we blinked, and he left peaceably.

After its victory in Bangkok, Godzilla was dubbed the "King of the Monsters". I thought it was pretty stupid, but who can argue with the results. Soon after, the Rift closed. There were a number of theories as to why. I like to think the aliens got tired of getting their asses kicked by another Kaiju. Whatever the reason, the world was safe.

For now.

* * *

A/N - This little gem has kept me from writing on my current story for a while. Its a two chapter one-shot and I do not expect to come back. Just so you know, I am a Kansas City Chiefs fan. Not sure if you caught that or not (and YES! I know the scenario I posted most likely won't happen, but hey, I can dream).

Oh great, now I have to read reviews flaming me for liking the Chiefs. Well, Peyton hasn't won a SuperBowl in Denver and the Raiders and Chargers just plain suck, so there!.


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